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Artichoke Agave

Agave parryi var. truncata

With the recent drought, I think it’s wonderful to consider some succulent plants. The artichoke agave is an excellent choice. It’s native to the deserts of central Arizona and New Mexico, and even into northern Mexico.

I like it for its beautiful shape and soothing blue-gray color with reddish-brown margin. You can grow it in the ground or in containers. It stays compact, about 1′ to less than 2′ feet high.

Be very careful of your soil. All of the succulents need well-drained soil. If you live on clay soil, put it in a container or build up a bed with decomposed granite.

You don’t want to add compost. That is too rich a soil for these plants.

It has a stem that’s very close to the ground, and like other agaves, forms a rosette.

This agave stays fairly short (2-3′) and is hardy to 15 degrees. In time, it will send up a flowering stalk. After that, the parent plant dies, but it produces pups that you can share or add to other containers and beds.

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